The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Lithuania

This page contains a list of the greatest Lithuanian Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 59 of which were born in Lithuania. This makes Lithuania the birth place of the 50th most number of Politicians behind Saudi Arabia, and Slovakia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Lithuanian Politicians of all time. This list of famous Lithuanian Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Lithuanian Politicians.

1. Józef Piłsudski (1867 - 1935)

With an HPI of 74.16, Józef Piłsudski is the most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 76 different languages on wikipedia.

Józef Klemens Piłsudski[a] (Polish: [ˈjuzɛf ˈklɛmɛns piwˈsutskʲi] ; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he became an increasingly dominant figure in Polish politics and exerted significant influence on shaping the country's foreign policy. Piłsudski is viewed as a father of the Second Polish Republic, which was re-established in 1918, 123 years after the final partition of Poland in 1795, and was considered de facto leader (1926–1935) of the Second Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs. Seeing himself as a descendant of the culture and traditions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Piłsudski believed in a multi-ethnic Poland—"a home of nations" including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities. Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party. Believing Poland's independence would be won militarily, he formed the Polish Legions. In 1914, he predicted a new major war would defeat the Russian Empire and the Central Powers. After World War I began in 1914, Piłsudski's Legions fought alongside Austria-Hungary against Russia. In 1917, with Russia faring poorly in the war, he withdrew his support for the Central Powers, and was imprisoned in Magdeburg by the Germans. Piłsudski was Poland's Chief of State from November 1918, when Poland regained its independence, until 1922. From 1919 to 1921 he commanded Polish forces in six wars that re-defined the country's borders. On the verge of defeat in the Polish–Soviet War in August 1920, his forces repelled the invading Soviet Russians at the Battle of Warsaw. In 1923, with a government dominated by his opponents, in particular the National Democrats, Piłsudski retired from active politics. Three years later he returned to power in the May Coup and became the strongman of the Sanation regime. He focused on military and foreign affairs until his death in 1935, developing a cult of personality that has survived into the 21st century. Although some aspects of Piłsudski's administration, such as imprisoning his political opponents at Bereza Kartuska, are controversial, he remains one of the most influential figures in Polish 20th-century history and is widely regarded as a founder of modern Poland.

2. Władysław II Jagiełło (1362 - 1434)

With an HPI of 73.30, Władysław II Jagiełło is the 2nd most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 67 different languages.

Jogaila (Lithuanian: [jɔˈɡâːɪɫɐ] ; c. 1352/1362 – 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (Polish: [vwaˈdɨswaf jaˈɡʲɛwwɔ] ), was Grand Duke of Lithuania (1377–1381 and 1382–1401), later giving the position to his cousin Vytautas in exchange for the title of Supreme Duke of Lithuania (1401–1434) and then King of Poland (1386–1434), first alongside his wife Jadwiga until 1399, and then sole ruler of Poland. Born a Lithuanian polytheist, he converted to Catholicism in 1386 and was baptized as Ladislaus (Polish: Władysław) in Kraków, married the young Queen Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło. In 1387, he converted Lithuania to Catholicism. His own reign in Poland started in 1399, upon the death of Queen Jadwiga, lasted a further thirty-five years, and laid the foundation for the centuries-long Polish–Lithuanian union. He was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland that bears his name and was previously also known as the Gediminid dynasty in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The dynasty ruled both states until 1572, and became one of the most influential dynasties in late medieval and early modern Europe. Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval Lithuania. After he became King of Poland, as a result of the Union of Krewo, the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian union confronted the growing power of the Teutonic Order. The allied victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the Peace of Thorn, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish–Lithuanian alliance as a significant force in Europe. The reign of Władysław II Jagiełło extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Poland's Golden Age.

3. Vytautas (1352 - 1430)

With an HPI of 72.78, Vytautas is the 3rd most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Vytautas (c. 1350 – 27 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great (Lithuanian: , Belarusian: Вітаўт, Vitaŭt, Polish: Witold Kiejstutowicz, Witold Aleksander or Witold Wielki, Ukrainian: Вітовт (Vitovt), Ruthenian: Витовт (Vitovt), Latin: Alexander Vitoldus, Old German: Wythaws or Wythawt) from the late 14th century onwards, was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites. In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revered as a national hero and was an important figure in the national rebirth in the 19th century. Vytautas is a popular male given name in Lithuania. In commemoration of the 500-year anniversary of his death, Vytautas Magnus University was named after him. Monuments in his honour were built in many towns in independent Lithuania during the interwar period from 1918 to 1939. Vytautas knew and spoke the Lithuanian language with his cousin Jogaila.

4. Gediminas (1275 - 1341)

With an HPI of 70.14, Gediminas is the 4th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Gediminas (Latin: Gedeminne, Gedeminnus; c. 1275 – December 1341) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341. He is considered the founder of Lithuania's capital Vilnius (see: Iron Wolf legend). During his reign, he brought under his rule lands from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The Gediminids dynasty he founded and which is named after him came to rule over Poland, Hungary and Bohemia.

5. Mindaugas (1203 - 1263)

With an HPI of 69.06, Mindaugas is the 5th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Mindaugas (German: Myndowen, Latin: Mindowe, Old East Slavic: Мендог, romanized: Mendog, Belarusian: Міндоўг, romanized: Mindowh, Polish: Mendog; c. 1203–September 12, 1263) was the first known grand duke of Lithuania and the only crowned king of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians. The contemporary and modern sources discussing his ascent mention strategic marriages along with banishment or murder of his rivals. He extended his domain into regions southeast of Lithuania proper during the 1230s and 1240s. In 1250 or 1251, during the course of internal power struggles, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic; this action enabled him to establish an alliance with the Livonian Order, a long-standing antagonist of the Lithuanians. By 1245, Mindaugas was already being referred to as "the highest king" in certain documents. During the summer of 1253, he was crowned king, ruling between 300,000 and 400,000 subjects and got nicknamed as Mindaugas the Sapient by the Livonians. While Mindaugas's ten-year reign as king was marked by many state-building accomplishments, his conflicts with relatives and other dukes continued. The western part of Lithuania – Samogitia – strongly resisted the alliance's rule. His gains in the southeast were challenged by the Tatars. He broke peace with the Livonian Order in 1261, possibly renouncing Christianity, and was assassinated in 1263 by his nephew Treniota and another rival, Duke Daumantas of Pskov. His three immediate successors were assassinated as well. The disorder was not resolved until Traidenis gained the title of grand duke c. 1270. Although his reputation was unsettled during the following centuries and his descendants were not notable, he gained standing during the 19th and 20th centuries. Mindaugas was the only king of Lithuania; while most of the Lithuanian grand dukes from Jogaila onward also reigned as kings of Poland, the titles remained separate. Now generally considered the founder of the Lithuanian state, he is also now credited with stopping the advance of the Tatars towards the Baltic Sea, establishing international recognition of Lithuania, and turning it towards Western civilization. In the 1990s the historian Edvardas Gudavičius published research supporting an exact coronation date – 6 July 1253. This day is now an official national holiday in Lithuania, Statehood Day. Contemporary written sources about Mindaugas are very scarce. Much what is known about his reign is obtained from the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle and the Hypatian Codex. Both of these chronicles were produced by enemies of Lithuania and thus have anti-Lithuanian bias, particularly the Hypatian Codex. They are also incomplete: both of them lack dates and locations even for the most important events. For example, the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle devoted 125 poetry lines to Mindaugas's coronation, but failed to mention either the date or the location. Other important sources are the papal bulls regarding baptism and coronation of Mindaugas. The Lithuanians did not produce any surviving records themselves, except for a series of acts granting lands to the Livonian Order, but their authenticity is disputed. Due to lack of sources, some important questions regarding Mindaugas and his reign cannot be answered. Because written sources covering the era are scarce, Mindaugas's origins and family tree have not been conclusively established. The Bychowiec Chronicles, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, have been discredited in this regard, since they assert an ancestry from the Palemonids, a noble family said to have originated within the Roman Empire. His year of birth, sometimes given as c. 1200, is at other times left as a question mark. His father is mentioned in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle as a powerful duke (ein kunic grôß), but is not named; later chronicles give his name as Ryngold. Dausprungas, mentioned in the text of a 1219 treaty, is presumed to have been his brother, and Dausprungas' sons Tautvilas and Gedvydas his nephews. He is thought to have had two sisters, one married to Vykintas and another to Daniel of Halych. Vykintas and his son Treniota played major roles in later power struggles. Mindaugas had at least two wives, Morta and Morta's sister, whose name is unknown, and possibly an earlier wife; her existence is presumed because two children – a son named Vaišvilkas and an unnamed daughter married to Svarn in 1255 – were already leading independent lives when Morta's children were still young. In addition to Vaišvilkas and his sister, two sons, Ruklys and Rupeikis, are mentioned in written sources. The latter two were assassinated along with Mindaugas. Information on his sons is limited and historians continue to discuss their number. He may have had two other sons whose names were later conflated by scribes into Ruklys and Rupeikis. In the 13th century Lithuania had little contact with foreign lands. Lithuanian names sounded obscure and unfamiliar to various chroniclers, who altered them to sound more like names in their native language. Mindaugas's name in historic texts was recorded in various distorted forms: Mindowe in Latin; Mindouwe, Myndow, Myndawe, and Mindaw in German; Mendog, Mondog, Mendoch, and Mindovg in Polish; and Mindovg, Mindog, and Mindowh in Old Church Slavonic, among others. Since Old Church Slavonic sources provide the most information about Mindaugas's life, they were judged the most reliable by linguists reconstructing his original Lithuanian name. The most popular Old Church Slavonic rendition was Mindovg, which can quite easily and naturally be reconstructed as Mindaugas or Mindaugis. In 1909 the Lithuanian linguist Kazimieras Būga published a research paper supporting the suffix -as, which has since been widely accepted. Mindaugas is an archaic disyllabic Lithuanian name, used before the Christianization of Lithuania, and consists of two components: min and daug. Its etymology may be traced to "daug menąs" (much wisdom) or "daugio minimas" (much fame). Lithuania was ruled during the early 13th century by a number of dukes and princes presiding over various fiefdoms and tribes. They were loosely bonded by commonalities of religion and tradition, trade, kinship, joint military campaigns, and the presence of captured prisoners from neighboring areas. Western merchants and missionaries began seeking control of the area during the 12th century, establishing the city of Riga, Latvia in 1201. Their efforts in Lithuania were temporarily halted by defeat at the Battle of Saule in 1236, but armed Christian orders continued to pose a threat. The country had also undergone incursions by the Mongol Empire. A treaty with Galicia–Volhynia, signed in 1219, is usually considered the first conclusive evidence that the Baltic tribes in the area were uniting in response to these threats. The treaty's signatories include twenty Lithuanian dukes and one dowager duchess; it specifies that five of these were elder and thus took precedence over the remaining sixteen. Mindaugas, despite his youth, as well as his brother Dausprungas are listed among the elder dukes, implying that they had inherited their titles. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle describes him as the ruler of all Lithuania in 1236. His path to this title is not clear. Ruthenian chronicles mention that he murdered or expelled several dukes, including his relatives. Historian S.C. Rowell has described his rise to power as taking place through "the familiar processes of marriage, murder and military conquest." In Rowell's interpretation, Mindaugas recognized the advantage to Christianity in attracting foreign merchants and military support from the Teutonic Order. As a result, in 1251, he was baptised Catholic. The conversion was purely for political gain with Catholic Europe; Mindaugas was known to continue to sacrifice to his old gods after his "conversion." In order to consolidate his power, Mindaugas married into rival families, defeated some in battle, and exiled the rest of his rivals. During the 1230s and 1240s, Mindaugas strengthened and established his power in various Baltic and Slavic lands. Warfare in the region intensified; he battled German forces in Kurland, while the Mongols destroyed Kiev in 1240 and entered Poland in 1241, defeating two Polish armies and burning Kraków. The Lithuanian victory in the Battle of Saule temporarily stabilized the northern front, but the Christian orders continued to make gains along the Baltic coast, founding the city of Klaipėda (Memel). Constrained in the north and west, Mindaugas moved to the east and southeast, conquering Navahrudak, Hrodna, Vawkavysk, and the Principality of Polotsk, but there is no information about any battles for those cities. In about 1239 he appointed his son Vaišvilkas to govern these areas, then known as Black Ruthenia. In 1248, he sent his nephews Tautvilas and Edivydas, the sons of his brother Dausprungas, along with Vykintas, the Duke of Samogitia, to conquer Smolensk, but they were unsuccessful. His attempts to consolidate his rule in Lithuania met with mixed success; in 1249, an internal war erupted when he sought to seize his nephews' and Vykintas' lands. Tautvilas, Edivydas, and Vykintas formed a powerful coalition in opposition to Mindaugas, along with the Samogitians of western Lithuania, the Livonian Order, Daniel of Galicia (Tautvilas and Edivydas' brother-in-law), and Vasilko of Volhynia. The princes of Galicia and Volhynia managed to gain control over Black Ruthenia, disrupting Vaišvilkas' supremacy. Tautvilas strengthened his position by traveling to Riga and accepting baptism by the Archbishop. In 1250, the Order organized a major raid through the lands of Nalšia into the domains of Mindaugas in Lithuania proper, and a raid into those parts of Samogitia that still supported him. Attacked from the north and south and facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, Mindaugas was placed in an extremely difficult position, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga to further his own interests. He succeeded in bribing Order Master Andreas von Stierland, who was still angry at Vykintas for the defeat at the Battle of Saule in 1236, by sending him "many gifts". In 1250 or 1251, Mindaugas agreed to receive baptism and relinquish control over some lands in western Lithuania, in return for an acknowledgment by Pope Innocent IV as king. The Pope welcomed a Christian Lithuania as a bulwark against Mongol threats; in turn, Mindaugas sought papal intervention in the ongoing Lithuanian conflicts with the Christian orders. On 17 July 1251, the pope signed two crucial papal bulls. One ordered the Bishop of Chełmno to crown Mindaugas as King of Lithuania, appoint a bishop for Lithuania, and build a cathedral. The other bull specified that the new bishop was to be directly subordinate to the Holy See, rather than to the Archbishop of Riga. This autonomy was a welcome development. The precise date of Mindaugas's baptism is not known. His wife, two sons, and members of his court were baptized; Pope Innocent wrote later that a multitude of Mindaugas's subjects also received Christianity. The process of coronation and the establishment of Christian institutions would take two years. Internal conflicts persisted; during the spring or summer of 1251, Tautvilas and his remaining allies attacked Mindaugas's warriors and the Livonian Order's crossbow-men in Voruta Castle. The attack failed, and Tautvilas' forces retreated to defend themselves in Tviremet Castle (presumed to be Tverai in Samogitia). Vykintas died in 1251 or 1252, and Tautvilas was forced to rejoin Daniel of Galicia. Mindaugas and his wife Morta were crowned during the summer of 1253. Bishop Henry Heidenreich of Kulm presided over the ecclesiastical ceremonies and Andreas Stirland conferred the crown. 6 July is now celebrated as Statehood Day (Lithuanian: Valstybės diena); it is an official holiday in modern Lithuania. The exact date of the coronation is not known; the scholarship of historian Edvardas Gudavičius, who promulgated this precise date, is sometimes challenged. The location of the coronation also remains unknown. Relative peace and stability prevailed for about eight years. Mindaugas used this opportunity to concentrate on the expansion to the east, and to establish and organize state institutions. He strengthened his influence in Black Ruthenia, in Polatsk, a major center of commerce in the Daugava River basin, and in Pinsk. He also negotiated a peace with Galicia–Volhynia, and married his daughter to Svarn, the son of Daniel of Galicia, who would later become Grand Duke of Lithuania. Lithuanian relationships with western Europe and the Holy See were reinforced. In 1255, Mindaugas received permission from Pope Alexander IV to crown his son as King of Lithuania. A noble court, an administrative system, and a diplomatic service were initiated. Silver long coins, an index of statehood, were issued. He sponsored the construction of a cathedral in Vilnius, possibly on the site of today's Vilnius Cathedral. Immediately after his coronation, Mindaugas transferred some lands to the Livonian Order – portions of Samogitia, Nadruva, and Dainava – although his control over these western lands was tenuous. There has been much discussion among historians as to whether in later years (1255–1261) Mindaugas gave even more lands to the order. The deeds might have been falsified by the order; the case for this scenario is bolstered by the fact that some of the documents mention lands that were not actually under the control of Mindaugas and by various irregularities in treaty witnesses and seals. Mindaugas and his antagonist Daniel reached a reconciliation in 1255; the Black Ruthenian lands were transferred to Roman, Daniel's son. Afterwards Mindaugas's son Vaišvilkas received baptism as a member of the Orthodox faith, becoming a monk and later founding a convent and monastery. Tautvilas's antagonism was temporarily resolved when he recognized Mindaugas's superiority and received Polatsk as a fiefdom. A direct confrontation with the Mongols occurred in 1258 or 1259, when Berke Khan sent his general Burundai to challenge Lithuanian rule, ordering Daniel and other regional princes to participate. The Novgorod Chronicle describes the following action as a defeat of the Lithuanians, but it has also been seen as a net gain for Mindaugas. A single sentence in the Hypatian Chronicle mentions Mindaugas defending himself in Voruta against his nephews and Duke Vykintas; two other sources mention "his castle". The location of Voruta is not specified, and this has led to considerable speculation, along with archeological research, concerning the seat of his court. At least fourteen locations have been proposed, including Kernavė and Vilnius. The ongoing formal archeological digs at Kernavė began in 1979 after a portion of the site named "Mindaugas Throne hill-fort" collapsed. The town now hosts a major celebration on Statehood Day. The Livonian Order used their alliance with Mindaugas to gain control over Samogitian lands. In 1252 he approved the Order's construction of Klaipeda Castle. Their governance, however, was seen as oppressive. Local merchants could only conduct transactions via Order-approved intermediaries; inheritance laws were changed; and the choices among marriage partners and residencies were restricted. Several pitched battles ensued. In 1259 the Order lost the Battle of Skuodas, and in 1260 it lost the Battle of Durbe. The first defeat encouraged a rebellion by the Semigalians, and the defeat at Durbe spurred the Prussians into the Great Prussian Rebellion, which lasted for 14 years. Encouraged by these developments and by his nephew Treniota, Mindaugas broke peace with the Order. The gains he had expected from Christianization had proven to be minor. Mindaugas may have reverted to paganism afterwards. His motivation for conversion is often described by modern historians as merely strategic. The case for his apostasy rests largely on two near-contemporary sources: a 1324 assertion by Pope John XXII that Mindaugas had returned to error, and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. The chronicler writes that Mindaugas continued to practice paganism, making sacrifices to his gods, burning corpses, and conducting pagan rites in public. Historians have pointed to the possibility of bias in this account, since Mindaugas had been at war with Volhynia. Pope Clement IV, on the other hand, wrote in 1268 of "Mindaugas of happy memory" (clare memorie Mindota), expressing regret at his murder. In any event, the Lithuanians were not prepared to accept Christianity, and Mindaugas's baptism had little impact on further developments. The majority of the population and the nobility remained pagan; his subjects were not required to convert. The cathedral he had built in Vilnius was superseded by a pagan temple, and all the diplomatic achievements made after his coronation were lost, although the practice of Christianity and intermarriage were well tolerated. Regional conflicts with the Order escalated. Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod, Tautvilas, and Tautvilas's son Constantine agreed to form a coalition in opposition to Mindaugas, but their plans were unsuccessful. Treniota emerged as the leader of the Samogitian resistance; he led an army to Cēsis (now in Latvia), reaching the Estonian coast, and battled Masovia (now in Poland). His goal was to encourage all the conquered Baltic tribes to rise up against the Christian orders and unite under Lithuanian leadership. His personal influence grew while Mindaugas was concentrating on the conquest of Ruthenian lands, dispatching a large army to Bryansk. Treniota and Mindaugas began to pursue different priorities. The Rhymed Chronicle mentions Mindaugas's displeasure at the fact that Treniota did not create any alliances in Latvia or Estonia; he may have come to prefer diplomacy. In the midst of these events his wife Morta died, and Mindaugas took her sister as his new wife. The only problem was that the sister was already married to Daumantas. In retaliation, Daumantas and Treniota assassinated Mindaugas and two of his sons in fall 1263. According to a late medieval tradition, the assassination took place in Aglona. He was buried along with his horses, in accordance with ancestral tradition. After Mindaugas's death, Lithuania lapsed into internal disorder. Three of his successors – Treniota, his son-in-law Svarn, and his son Vaišvilkas – were assassinated during the next seven years. Stability did not return until the reign of Traidenis, designated Grand Duke c. 1270. Mindaugas held a dubious position in Lithuanian historiography until the Lithuanian national revival of the 19th century. While pagan sympathizers held him in disregard for betraying his religion, Christians saw his support as lukewarm. He received only passing references from Grand Duke Gediminas and was not mentioned at all by Vytautas the Great. His known family relations end with his children; no historic records note any connections between his descendants and the Gediminids dynasty that ruled Lithuania and Poland until 1572. A 17th-century rector of Vilnius University held him responsible for the troubles then being experienced by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ("the seed of internal discord among the Lithuanians had been sown".) A 20th-century historian charged him with the "destruction of the organization of the Lithuanian state". The first academic study of his life by a Lithuanian scholar, Jonas Totoraitis (Die Litauer unter dem König Mindowe bis zum Jahre 1263) was not published until 1905. In the 1990s historian Edvardas Gudavičius published his findings pinpointing a coronation date, which became a national holiday. The 750th anniversary of his coronation was marked in 2003 by the dedication of the Mindaugas Bridge in Vilnius, numerous festivals and concerts, and visits from other heads of state. In Belarus, there is the legendary Mindaugas's Hill in Navahrudak, mentioned by Adam Mickiewicz in his 1828 poem Konrad Wallenrod. A memorial stone on the Mindaugas's hill was installed in 1993 and a metal sculpture of Mindaugas in 2014. Mindaugas is the primary subject of the 1829 drama Mindowe, by Juliusz Słowacki, one of the Three Bards. He has been portrayed in several 20th-century literary works: the Latvian author Mārtiņš Zīverts' tragedy Vara (Power, 1944), Justinas Marcinkevičius' drama-poem Mindaugas (1968), Romualdas Granauskas' Jaučio aukojimas (The Offering of the Bull, 1975), and Juozas Kralikauskas' Mindaugas (1995). Coronation of Mindaugas and creation of the Grand Duchy is the main topic of the 2002 Belarusian novel Alhierd's Lance by Volha Ipatava dedicated to the 750th anniversary of the coronation. Lithuania portal History of Lithuania (1219–1295) List of rulers of Lithuania Early dukes of Lithuania

6. Algirdas (1296 - 1377)

With an HPI of 67.56, Algirdas is the 6th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Algirdas (Belarusian: Альгерд, romanized: Alhierd; Ukrainian: Ольге́рд, О́льґерд, romanized: Olherd, Olgerd, Polish: Olgierd; c. 1296 – May 1377) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377. With the help of his brother Kęstutis (who defended the western border of the Duchy) he created an empire stretching from the present Baltic states to the Black Sea and to within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Moscow.

7. Kęstutis (1297 - 1382)

With an HPI of 66.42, Kęstutis is the 7th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Kęstutis (Latin: Kinstut, Lithuanian pronunciation: [kæːsˈtutɪs]; c. 1297 – 3 or 15 August 1382) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the Duke of Trakai and governed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1342–1382, together with his brother Algirdas (until 1377), and with his nephew Jogaila (until 1381). The name "Kęstutis" is a derivative from the old form of the name Kęstas, which is a shortened version of such Lithuanian names as Kęstaras, Kęstautas (there kęs-ti means to cope). Historic writing sources reflect different Lithuanian pronunciation.

8. Dalia Grybauskaitė (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 64.71, Dalia Grybauskaitė is the 8th most famous Lithuanian Politician. Her biography has been translated into 78 different languages.

Dalia Grybauskaitė (Lithuanian pronunciation: [dɐˈlʲɛ ɡʲrʲiːbɐʊsˈkɐ̂ˑɪtʲeː]; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be reelected for a second consecutive term. Grybauskaitė has served as Minister of Finance, as well as European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget from 2004 to 2009. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady" or the "Steel Magnolia".

9. Valdas Adamkus (b. 1926)

With an HPI of 64.57, Valdas Adamkus is the 9th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 59 different languages.

Valdas Adamkus (Lithuanian: [ˈvɐ̂ˑɫdɐs ɐˈdɐmˑkʊs] ; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian politician, diplomat and civil engineer who served as the fifth and seventh president of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamkus' first tenure as president lasted for five years, from 26 February 1998 to 28 February 2003, following his defeat by Rolandas Paksas in the 2003 presidential election. Paksas was later impeached and removed from office by a parliamentary vote on 6 April 2004. Soon afterwards, when a new election was announced, Adamkus again ran for president and was re-elected. His approval ratings increased during this period and become a highly regarded moral authority in the state. He was succeeded as president on 12 July 2009 by Dalia Grybauskaitė. He is considered by some as being one of the best Lithuanian leaders in modern history. He was married to Alma Adamkienė, who was involved in charitable activities in Lithuania. Following the end of his term as president, Adamkus remained involved in international development, and is a member of the European Academy of Diplomacy.

10. Antanas Smetona (1874 - 1944)

With an HPI of 64.52, Antanas Smetona is the 10th most famous Lithuanian Politician. His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Antanas Smetona (Lithuanian: [ɐnˈtǎːnɐs sʲmʲɛtoːˈnɐ] ; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician who served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 as a de facto dictator until the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Referred to as the "Leader of the Nation" during his presidency, Smetona is recognised as one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II, and a prominent ideologist of Lithuanian nationalism and the movement for national revival.

People

Pantheon has 73 people classified as Lithuanian politicians born between 1203 and 1990. Of these 73, 26 (35.62%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Lithuanian politicians include Dalia Grybauskaitė, Valdas Adamkus, and Vytautas Landsbergis. The most famous deceased Lithuanian politicians include Józef Piłsudski, Władysław II Jagiełło, and Vytautas. As of April 2024, 10 new Lithuanian politicians have been added to Pantheon including Krzysztof "Piorun" Radziwiłł, Alma Adamkienė, and Meir Vilner.